I believe there’s a value in sharing posts written by others on LinkedIn, even though it’s also important to write your own posts.

First, doing so provides your connections with a wider variety of topics and perspectives than just yours. Then, by sharing material that your connections have found or written on LinkedIn, you strengthen your relationship with them. And, you expand your LinkedIn network as you connect with people whose material you are sharing.

 

Here’s a Recent Example

I noticed that one of my connections, Michael Friend, has shared three of my recent posts to his LinkedIn connections. So, I went into the Activities section of his profile to find his posts of my material and thank him.

As I scrolled through his recent activity, I noticed that he had shared someone else’s article. The name of the article was: “20 great questions to ask instead of ‘How are you doing right now?’” Since the article’s title caught my attention, I clicked on it.

I was truly touched by the thought-provoking and caring questions suggested by Elizabeth Weingarten, the article’s author. I immediately wanted to share the article with my LinkedIn connections.

But before I did that, I felt drawn to reach out to the author of this powerful article. I found her on LinkedIn and asked her to connect with me. After she did, I thanked her for writing the article and told her I’d be sharing it with my network. I also told her that I would be mentioning her when I shared the link to the article.

And here is that link:

https://qz.com/work/1836105/20-great-questions-to-ask-instead-of-how-are-you-doing-right-now/

 

Results of Sharing This Article

Since the questions in the article touched me deeply, I thought it would be well-received. Yet, even with that expectation, I was blown away by the response.

So far, my post has reached over 2,000 people, with over 40 people reacting to or liking it. Here are just a few of those comments:

  • “I’ve been struggling with how to make sure people around me are doing well during all this. These questions provide me with some new discussion topics.”
  • “Love these questions. I will definitely incorporate them into my daily conversations.”
  • “Thank you for posting. Didn’t realize that I really needed these questions.”

This experience of stumbling across this excellent article in the Activities section of a LinkedIn connection has got me thinking. It’s so important to take the time to regularly review the material of selected LinkedIn connections. There are so many gems that we will never be able to share if we don’t.

How About You?

Do you make a practice of regularly checking out the Activities section of a few of your LinkedIn connections? If so, what kinds of gems have you found that you’ve shared to your connections? What types of responses have they received?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 45 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.